The last few months have been particularly busy for me as I’ve been working on a lighting project in the Irish Room of the Dead Zoo in Dublin, so I’ve not had much opportunity to dig out mystery objects and get good images for you to identify.
However, I have moved pretty much every specimen in the gallery and if you want to see how much stuff that entails there’s a 3D interactive map of the space available here (if you want to have a virtual tour of the whole museum check this out). All this moving means I’ve seen a lot of specimens, so here’s one of them for you to have a go at identifying:
For a some of you this will be way too easy, so let’s have your best cryptic clues, hints and riddles as to what this is.
Have fun!
Zygoma 
“…Thou hast no sorrow in thy song, No winter in thy year.”
It’s a bird.
I’d even go so far as to say it is a dinosaur.
The lack of scale is not helpful. Guess I can use the relative size of its eyes. Hmmmm…
Process of elimination:
1. Nares at base of bill, so not a kiwi.
2. Wings look close to functional so not any type of ratite.
3. Definitely not a stegosaur.
Having helped you thus far, you know my methods; apply them…
Oh alright then…
Head rounded like a pigeon’s but bill long and hooked almost like a falcon’s. There is one bird family that does this (and one of its more common representatives had me puzzled for a while when I saw it in Bombay), but…
I am going to suggest that this is the Transatlantic Tailbone.
https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.jsi’d be crazy if i didn’t wager a guess… anyone like cocopuffs?
The feature described in its common name is visible, though I would say its tail is equally noteworthy…
Downpour raven?
https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.jsAn… American…Clock….
an interesting read on eggs, might this bird be rather median for round vs oval?
https://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-have-discovered-why-bird-eggs-are-egg-shaped
I always thought eggs were shaped because of where they were laid (not so much who laid them, lol)
– i.e., ones with pointy ends would be less likely to roll off a ledge. But you’ve raised an interesting point about this bird’s eggs!
The authors of that recent report seem to have forgotten about natural selection. Nest site definitely seems a more logical correlation than flight (e.g. hole nesters seem to have a tendency to round eggs, etc.).
Easy, or not, this one’s driving me nuts!